Urgent actions to save lives when ICU bed needs approach or exceed capacity: lessons from Mongolia.

At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Mongolia took early and stringent response measures that were considered successful until early 2021.1,2 Following the lifting of a nationwide lockdown in April 2021, there was a rapid resurgence of cases from mid-May to mid-June (Fig. 1). By early June, COVID-19 hospital bed and intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy in the capital of Ulaanbaatar exceeded total capacity (Fig. 2). This impacted both health-care delivery for COVID-19 and other essential health services. At its peak, 2746 new cases (18 June 2021) and 17 deaths (3 July 2021) were reported in a single day, totalling 166 145 cases and 812 deaths as of 1 August 2021.3